‘Assisted dying’ legislation before Holyrood poses a serious threat to palliative care in Scotland, a senior doctor has warned.
Juliet Spiller, an Edinburgh-based consultant in palliative medicine, says there’s no question that ‘assisted dying’ would “very negatively impact” access to palliative care.
Speaking to the Better Way campaign in a personal capacity in a video interview, Dr Spiller also said that a change in the law would:
- Inevitably result in abuses against vulnerable, seriously ill patients.
- Impact doctors’ ability to support patients at the end of life.
- Negatively affect recruitment of doctors to palliative medicine.
Dr Spiller comments:
“There is no way to make this safe. In healthcare at the moment there are countless examples of well-intentioned policies that have been misused, abused, or misunderstood – where poor practice has resulted, and safeguards have been lost or overlooked. It is simply not possible to safeguard so robustly that people don’t fall prey to abuse. When the outcome is death, that’s a really serious thing.
“The evidence base is really non-existent in terms of what works when it comes to ‘assisted death’. Some people take oral medication and die within an hour. Some people take the same medication, and it is days. Sometimes it doesn’t work. Sometimes they are sick. Sometimes they might have a seizure. Sometimes they might become very agitated and distressed.”
She continues:
“There’s no question that an ‘assisted dying’ law would very negatively impact wider access to palliative care. The idea that you can focus on providing access to assisted suicide and palliative care is misguided. You can’t do both. We see from other countries that, as soon as you introduce assisted suicide as a treatment, the quality of palliative care is reduced.
“We need to ensure that every person living with a terminal diagnosis has access to all the support they need. That they are able to plan ahead, to identify what really matters to them. The amount of political attention and resources dedicated to end-of-life care at present is tiny, compared to other areas of clinical practice. We need a much bigger focus on how we ensure everyone in Scotland has equitable access to excellent palliative care.”
ENDS
Notes for Editors
In March, it emerged that almost 2,500 doctors are backing a campaign to halt the Assisted Dying Bill in Scotland.
The potential impact on palliative medicine is especially concerning as there are fewer specialist palliative care doctors in Scotland than there are MSPs.
A 2022 survey of Scottish palliative doctors found that:
- 75% of doctors would not be willing to participate in any part of an ‘assisted dying’ process.
- 43% would resign if their organisation elected to take part in assisted suicides.
- 71% would consider resigning if their organisation elected to take part in assisted suicides.
In addition:
- 9 in 10 respondents (86%) said the practice would have a negative or very negative impact on palliative care services.
- 8 in 10 (78%) said assisted suicide would have a negative or very negative impact on their conversations with patients and families.
- 9 in 10 (88%) said they do not believe that proposed legal safe[1]guards would prevent harm to vulnerable patients under their care.
About Better Way
Better Way opposes assisted suicide, sets out an alternative vision, and provides a platform for marginalised voices. The campaign is supported by experts in several fields including medicine, disability advocacy, and sociology. Find out more: Website | Social media
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